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Robotham RJ, Starrfelt R. Comparing word and face recognition - An insoluble conundrum? Cortex 2024; 176:237-241. [PMID: 38760242 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Ro J Robotham
- Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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Manouchehri V, Albonico A, Hemström J, Djouab S, Kim H, Barton JJS. The impact of simulated hemianopia on visual search for faces, words, and cars. Exp Brain Res 2022; 240:2835-2846. [PMID: 36069920 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-022-06457-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Tests of visual search can index the effects of perceptual load and compare the processing efficiency for different object types, particularly when one examines the set-size effect, the increase in search time for each additional stimulus in an array. Previous studies have shown that the set-size effect is increased by manoeuvres that impede object processing, and in patients with object processing impairments. In this study, we examine how the low-level visual impairment of hemianopia affects visual search for complex objects, using a virtual paradigm. Forty-two healthy subjects performed visual search for faces, words, or cars with full-viewing as well as gaze-contingent simulations of complete left or right hemianopia. Simulated hemianopia lowered accuracy and discriminative power and increased response times and set-size effects, similarly for faces, words and cars. A comparison of set-size effects between target absent and target present trials did not show a difference between full-view and simulated hemianopic conditions, and a model of decision-making suggested that simulated hemianopia reduced the rate of accumulation of perceptual data, but did not change decision thresholds. We conclude that simulated hemianopia reduces the efficiency of visual search for complex objects, and that such impairment should be considered when interpreting results from high-level object processing deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vahideh Manouchehri
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3N9, Canada
- Department of Ophthalmology, Nikookari Eye Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Andrea Albonico
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3N9, Canada
| | - Jennifer Hemström
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3N9, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Sarra Djouab
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3N9, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Hyeongmin Kim
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3N9, Canada
| | - Jason J S Barton
- Human Vision and Eye Movement Laboratory, Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2550 Willow Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 3N9, Canada.
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Feizabadi M, Singh M, Albonico A, Barton JJS. The inversion effect in word recognition: the effect of language familiarity and handwriting. Perception 2022; 51:578-590. [PMID: 35731649 DOI: 10.1177/03010066221108859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Humans have expertise with visual words and faces. One marker of this expertise is the inversion effect. This is attributed to experience with those objects being biased towards a canonical orientation, rather than some inherent property of object structure or perceptual anisotropy. To confirm the role of experience, we measured inversion effects in word matching for familiar and unfamiliar languages. Second, we examined whether there may be more demands on reading expertise with handwritten stimuli rather than computer font, given the greater variability and irregularities in the former, with the prediction of larger inversion effects for handwriting. We recruited two cohorts of subjects, one fluent in Farsi and the other in Punjabi, neither of whom were able to read the other's language. Subjects performed a match-to-sample task with words in either computer fonts or handwritings. Subjects were more accurate and faster with their familiar language, even when it was inverted. Inversion effects were present for the familiar but not the unfamiliar language. The inversion effect in accuracy for handwriting was larger than that for computer fonts in the familiar language. We conclude that the word inversion effect is generated solely by orientation-biased experience, and that demands on this expertise are greater with handwriting than computer font.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mehar Singh
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Feizabadi M, Albonico A, Starrfelt R, Barton JJS. Whole-object effects in visual word processing: Parallels with and differences from face recognition. Cogn Neuropsychol 2021; 38:231-257. [PMID: 34529548 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2021.1974369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Visual words and faces differ in their structural properties, but both are objects of high expertise. Holistic processing is said to characterize expert face recognition, but the extent to which whole-word processes contribute to word recognition is unclear, particularly as word recognition is thought to proceed by a component-based process. We review the evidence for experimental effects in word recognition that parallel those used to support holistic face processing, namely inversion effects, the part-whole task, and composite effects, as well as the status of whole-word processing in pure alexia and developmental dyslexia, contrasts between familiar and unfamiliar languages, and the differences between handwriting and typeset font. The observations support some parallels in whole-object influences between face and visual word recognition, but do not necessarily imply similar expert mechanisms. It remains to be determined whether and how the relative balance between part-based and whole-object processing differs for visual words and faces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monireh Feizabadi
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Andrea Albonico
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Randi Starrfelt
- Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jason J S Barton
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Barton JJS, Davies-Thompson J, Corrow SL. Prosopagnosia and disorders of face processing. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2021; 178:175-193. [PMID: 33832676 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-821377-3.00006-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Face recognition is a form of expert visual processing. Acquired prosopagnosia is the loss of familiarity for facial identity and has several functional variants, namely apperceptive, amnestic, and associative forms. Acquired forms are usually caused by either occipitotemporal or anterior temporal lesions, right or bilateral in most cases. In addition, there is a developmental form, whose functional and structural origins are still being elucidated. Despite their difficulties with recognizing faces, some of these subjects still show signs of covert recognition, which may have a number of explanations. Other aspects of face perception can be spared in prosopagnosic subjects. Patients with other types of face processing difficulties have been described, including impaired expression processing, impaired lip-reading, false familiarity for faces, and a people-specific amnesia. Recent rehabilitative studies have shown some modest ability to improve face perception in prosopagnosic subjects through perceptual training protocols.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J S Barton
- Departments of Medicine (Neurology), Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
| | - Jodie Davies-Thompson
- Face Research Swansea, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Sketty, United Kingdom
| | - Sherryse L Corrow
- Visual Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN, United States
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Djouab S, Albonico A, Yeung SC, Malaspina M, Mogard A, Wahlberg R, Corrow SL, Barton JJS. Search for Face Identity or Expression: Set Size Effects in Developmental Prosopagnosia. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:889-905. [PMID: 31905091 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
The set size effect during visual search indexes the effects of processing load and thus the efficiency of perceptual mechanisms. Our goal was to investigate whether individuals with developmental prosopagnosia show increased set size effects when searching faces for face identity and how this compares to search for face expression. We tested 29 healthy individuals and 13 individuals with developmental prosopagnosia. Participants were shown sets of three to seven faces to judge whether the identities or expressions of the faces were the same across all stimuli or if one differed. The set size effect was the slope of the linear regression between the number of faces in the array and the response time. Accuracy was similar in both controls and prosopagnosic participants. Developmental prosopagnosic participants displayed increased set size effects in face identity search but not in expression search. Single-participant analyses reveal that 11 developmental prosopagnosic participants showed a putative classical dissociation, with impairments in identity but not expression search. Signal detection theory analysis showed that identity set size effects were highly reliable in discriminating prosopagnosic participants from controls. Finally, the set size ratios of same to different trials were consistent with the predictions of self-terminated serial search models for control participants and prosopagnosic participants engaged in expression search but deviated from those predictions for identity search by the prosopagnosic cohort. We conclude that the face set size effect reveals a highly prevalent and selective perceptual inefficiency for processing face identity in developmental prosopagnosia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Djouab
- University of British Columbia.,University of Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
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